While We're Young

ii.

SOLNESS:

The funny thing is that I've become so disturbed by younger

people!

HILDE:

What? Younger people?

SOLNESS:

Yes, they upset me so much that I've sort of closed my doors here

and locked myself in. Because I'm afraid they're going to come

here, and they're going to knock on the door, and then they're

going to break in.

HILDE:

Well, I think maybe you should open the door and let them in.

SOLNESS:

Open the door?

HILDE:

Yes - so that they can just gently and quietly come inside, and it

can be something good for you. . .

SOLNESS:

Open the door?

-- from Wallace Shawn's adaptation of Henrik

Ibsen's "The Master Builder"

We hear an instrumental lullaby version of The Rolling

Stones’s song “Under My Thumb.”

CLOSE on the peaceful face of a sleeping baby, gently

floating.

INT. FLETCHER/MARINA APT. - LIVING ROOM, BROOKLYN. DAY 1*

CLOSE on Cornelia Srebnick, 41. She’s humming softly. We

MOVE out slowly to see she’s rocking the infant on a big

comfortable couch fionlled with baby blankets, stuffed *

animals and children’s books.

We MOVE over to see Josh Srebnick, 44, on the floor watching

her -- his expression a kind of awe. She looks at him,

hesitating, taken by the intensity of his look. A moment of

connection and warmth passes through her.

He smiles softly back.

CORNELIA:

(to the baby)

There were three little pigs and theymade a house out of twigs and thewolf came and...

(to Josh)

Do you remember how it goes?

JOSH:

He blows it down?

The baby starts to fuss.

CORNELIA:

Yeah. But, what happens in themiddle?

JOSH:

(thinks)

I keep wanting to do this littlepiggie went to market but that’s withthe toes.

The baby starts to cry.

CORNELIA:

The wolf keeps blowing the house in.

The pigs keep making differenthouses.

(rocks the baby)

Oh...shh, shh, shh.

The baby is wailing. Cornelia rocks her faster. She looks

panicked.

Pink (09/30/2013) 22.

CORNELIA:

What the f*** do we do?

Josh doesn’t know. Bang, a door opens and a woman comes inwith a boppy strapped around her waist. This is Marina,

30’s.

MARINA:

Okay, who’s ready to eat?

JOSH MARINA:

Are we taking in or --Who’s ready to eat?

She sits down on the couch next to Cornelia, lifts thesobbing infant from out of Cornelia’s arms and places it onthe boppy. The baby’s onesie has an image from The Clash’sfirst album across the chest. Marina opens her bra and givesthe baby her breast. The baby nurses, stretches and stopscrying.

MARINA:

Ha! I love how she stretches...it’s

just like we do... It’s so funny.

It never occurred to me that

stretching is innate.

She stretches, imitating the baby. Cornelia smiles politely.

A curly haired man with glasses, early 40’s, enters. Fletcher.

FLETCHER:

You want to see it?

JOSH:

Yeah.

Fletcher sits near Josh.

FLETCHER:

It got infected with staph but it’snot the bad staph.

He pushes up his sleeve to reveal a square black and whitetattoo on his bicep.

CORNELIA:

What is it?

FLETCHER:

Guess.

(to Josh)

You can come closer it’s not the bad

staph.

*

*

*

*

*

Pink (09/30/2013) 33.

MARINA:

I still don’t want the baby touchingit.

He shoves his shoulder in Josh’s face.

JOSH:

I can’t...tell.

FLETCHER:

It’s Willow’s sonogram.

JOSH:

Oh...okay.

FLETCHER:

I did it for Marina. I was so

f***ing proud of her.

MARINA:

Why it’s for me, I still don’tunderstand.

JOSH:

Where do you even go for a tattoo?

FLETCHER:

I asked a guy at work and he told mewhere his kids went. Place in

Williamsburg. Where else?

(pause)

You know, she didn’t get theepidurol.

MARINA:

It’s a mother f***er -- it’s a ringof f***ing fire -- but it was themost beautiful experience of my life.

FLETCHER:

And I fell in love immediately. A

love I’ve never felt. I mean, don’ttake that the wrong way, Marina -

MARINA:

No, I know exactly what you mean.

It’s pure.

CORNELIA:

(how sweet)

Aww...

*

*

*

*

*

*

Pink (09/30/2013) 44.

MARINA:

(can’t help herself)

Oh, you guys should do it!

*

Yeah!

FLETCHER:

MARINA:

You’d make such good parents.

(catching herself)

I’m sorry, I’m sorry!

*

CORNELIA:

No, it’s fine. You know, we -She

looks at Josh.

We...

JOSH MARINA:

It’s just such a gamechanger! *

We STAY on Josh and Cornelia’s faces.

FLETCHER (O.S.)

When I saw her, I thought: “I knowyou.”

MARINA (O.S.)

It’s true, I recognized herimmediately.

*

FLETCHER (O.S.)

And because I’d been reading to herin the womb, she knew my voiceimmediately.

MARINA (O.S.)

It’s like in one moment,

everything is different.

FLETCHER (O.S.)

I read her Stephen King’s TheTommyknockers. *

FLETCHER (O.S.)

It’s like all the stuff before, fine,

you know, we’re figuring it out, butnow: Okay, real life. You know?

Josh and Cornelia nod.

A2 EXT. COBBLE HILL STREETS, BROOKLYN. DAY A2

Cornelia and Josh walk home.

Pink (09/30/2013) 4A4A.

2 INT. JOSH AND CORNELIA’S APARTMENT. DAY 2

They enter. An open floor-through of a brownstone. The

room, separated by large wooden pocket doors, looks half-

finished, framed pictures lean against the wall, projectsundertaken and abandoned. Some nice stuff, a couple ofantique chairs or a table. A water stain untended to on the

ceiling.

5.

CORNELIA:

I can’t remember Goldilocks either

anymore. The porridge part, but notwhat happens.

JOSH:

She gets eaten, right?

CORNELIA:

Does she?

JOSH:

There’s like an oven that’s too hot.

Josh shrugs. Silence.

CORNELIA:

You don’t want kids, right?

(Josh hesitates)

Because I don’t.

(they both hesitate)

I’m sorry, I feel so guilty forsaying that. I mean, I did. If we’d

had the magic sexy version and oneday suddenly had a baby... But all

those drugs and shots andmiscarriages -- I don’t want to do itagain and it not to work.

JOSH:

I know.

(beat)

And I like our life as it is.

CORNELIA:

(relieved)

Me too.

JOSH:

I don’t want things to be differentthan they are right now.

CORNELIA:

I know. I mean, if we wanted to takeoff for Paris tomorrow, we could.

JOSH:

Yeah, I mean I think it would be hardto find an affordable fare on such

short notice, but yeah...

CORNELIA:

No, I know and I couldn’t leave work.

6.

JOSH:

If we were going to do it we shouldplan it at least a month in advance.

CORNELIA:

A month is still in the realm of

spontaneity.

JOSH:

No, I know. I mean, the time wespent in Rome, what was that -

CORNELIA:

2006.

JOSH:

(can’t believe it)

It wasn’t 2006.

CORNELIA:

Yeah because I was working with mydad on his dance film.

JOSH:

Rome was eight years ago already?

Sh*t.

CORNELIA:

Yeah, I looked at the picturesrecently and we’re two younger peoplestanding at the Treve Fountain.

JOSH:

We look similar.

CORNELIA:

We look younger.

(pause)

I tried to get you to go to Mexicolast summer -

JOSH:

I needed to finish my documentary.

CORNELIA:

But you didn’t finish it!

They both take a deep breath. Pause.

JOSH:

Well, maybe the point is we have thefreedom. What we do with it isn’t

that important.

Rate this script:4.5 / 2 votes